Top Rated Infant Car Seats

Not all infant car seats are created equally. The most effective seats come with features that improve crash test performance. For example load legs are shock-absorbing elements that are attached to the base or seat and help to reduce movement during a collision.

A favorite among CPST instructors is the Chicco KeyFit, which has a large rear-facing weight limit and height limit as well as bubble level indicator and a spring-loaded reclining foot that makes it easy to install.

Graco Mesa Max

The Graco Mesa Max is one of the top-rated infant car seats due to its convenience of use. It comes with great fabrics and a simple design and a convenient feature for attaching the child's harness to the headrest to make it easier to tighten. It comes with a large canopy that can be tucked away to keep your child protected while traveling. The only issue is that it's a little heavier than average this could be an issue if you intend to carry it around or if you want to pair it with your award-winning UPPAbaby stroller.

Mesa Max's impressive crash test results demonstrate its commitment to safety at the highest level. It received a high score in the frontal test, and a top score in the side impact test, which means your baby is safe from both sides of the event of a collision.

The anti-rebound panel is another notable safety feature. It helps reduce rebound forces in a crash and also safeguards the child's head. This feature is rare in infant car seat travel car seats and makes the Mesa Max stand out among its competitors.

When used with the included base, the Graco Mesa Max can be installed easily and securely in your vehicle using LATCH. The load leg, recline angle adjustment, and the tightness indicator help ensure an accurate, quick installation. The base weighs 12.6 It is a little higher than the typical infant car seats, but not enough to cause an issue.

Like its predecessor, UPPAbaby Mesa V2, the Mesa Max uses dual-knit fabric which is free of harmful chemicals. It also has an infinitely adjustable headrest and a robust infant insert that helps improve fit and body positioning for infants weighing between 4-11 pounds. The fabrics are GREENGUARD gold certified, which tests for low chemical emissions and low VOCs.

The UPPAbaby Mesa Max is a little more expensive than the other options however it comes with premium features and the latest technology to ensure a safe travel experience. The included base and a selection of stylish colorways enhance the value proposition. Its thoughtful design and sturdy features offer peace of mind for parents on their every trip.

Britax Boulevard ClickTight

The Britax Blvd ClickTight is a great choice for parents who are looking for an automobile seat that they can grow with. The rear-facing weight limit is 40 pounds, which is more than most infant car seat rear facing car seats. It can be used forward-facing as well until your child weighs 65 pounds.

Its most prominent selling point is the ClickTight Installation System, which is the safest and easiest on the market. It allows you to tighten the belt by pressing a red release button and pulling the harness strap, without having to loosen it and then re-thread it. This minimizes the chance of a mistake when tightening a seat belt which is the most common cause of car seat failure.

The EZ-Buckle Pad is another security feature that keeps the buckle in place while you place your child in the car seat. This feature, along with beltpath cutouts that are located on the sides of the seat makes it easy to get your child in and out of the car.

All three ClickTight convertible seat models (Boulevard CT, Marathon CT, Advocate CT) share the same features. These include the ClickTight Installation System and an impact-absorbing base, with seven recline positions, a rip-stitch energy-absorbing harness pad, a HUGS tether, a steel-reinforced frame, and EPP energy-absorbing foam.

The seat is fairly heavy, though, so you may want to think about a lighter option if you intend to make use of it for frequent swaps of cars. The seat is quite large and therefore may not fit in smaller cars.

If you're looking for a budget-friendly option with similar quality, check out the 4Ever DLX from Graco. It has lower crash test analysis scores than the Boulevard but it's an excellent choice for your little one.

The Graco also comes with LATCH connectors that can be pushed on that make it simpler to take the seat off. The LATCH connectors on the Boulevard have a different release mechanism, which requires the user to press a grey button and pull the webbing to loosen it. It can be difficult to do this if the webbing isn't fitted properly. This seat has a handy storage compartment for the belt straps.

Clek Liing

Clek Liing is the infant car seat you should consider If you're looking for everything: style, safety and comfort. This rear-facing car seat has an excellent crash test score, a wide variety of features, and is simple to install within most vehicles.

The Liing is designed with features that exceed US and Canadian safety regulations. It is designed to allow for simple and secure installation in any seating position. It also features advanced safety features such as an energy-absorbing metal leg and two pieces of shell that is lined with EPP to provide increased side impact protection. The base features 7 recline positions as well as a reliable bubble indicator to let you know exactly when the seat is at the right angle for your infant.

Parents love the Liing's sleek and modern design, as well as its innovative safety features like rigid lower anchors that are simpler to connect than hook-and-loop connectors. The Liing also has a handy one-handed quick release that makes it simple to take it off the base, or to use with a variety of strollers that are compatible with it. It's also slim enough to fit three-across several automobiles, and it can be easily inserted into a convertible car seats for a travel boost.

The Liing infant car seat newborn seat is rated as 1st for its unique rigid-LATCH system of installation. Lower anchors of the Liing snap right into the vehicle's lower seat belt slots, and the seat's top tether strap snaps into the vehicle's headrest to create a tight, secure fit that eliminates any chance of the child being thrown around during an accident.

The seat is light, with the base weighting 9 lbs, and the car itself at just 10.5 pounds. Some other rear-facing only seats are heavier in weight however, if you plan on taking the car seat and its base all over the place it won't be too noticeable (especially when you add a baby into the equation! ).

Parents love the Liing's built-in canopy and 100+spf sun protection that comes with an open mesh window. Parents appreciate the blanket made of merino that keeps the baby warm and the capacity of the handle to pivot away from the canopy. This makes it easier for parents to reach for the seat if they need to.

Graco Trio Grow SnugLock LX

The Graco Trio SnugLock is an all-in-one seat that converts from a rear-facing infant car seats on sale to a forward-facing harness and then to an highback booster. It features the SnugLock installation system which allows for a smooth and easy installation using either a vehicle seat belts or lower anchors. It can be installed using the top tether when in booster mode. (We recommend always using the lower anchors for extra security.)

This seat is ideal for children of all different ages. For babies who are just beginning to crawl it comes with an infant insert which helps to support their necks and backs. This insert can be removed once the child is older and the seat can be used as a standard car seat for toddlers. This car seat is one of the few that allows you to use the top tether in booster mode, which we recommend.

Its base is fairly compact from front to rear and it shouldn't be a problem to locate a place for it in the majority of vehicles. It does require the headrest to be raised however, to give you an easy route to the lower anchor webbing. Fortunately, there's a headrest adjustment knob that allows you to accomplish this, and also observe the position of the headrest in the display window.

The SnugLock system is among the coolest features about this seat. It's a bar that is in the belt path. Installing this car seat using lower anchors is simple and is almost as easy as putting it on the car's seat belt.

The manual offers a wonderful illustration of how to guide the lower anchor connectors in a correct manner through the belt path which may initially be confusing. Keep them clear of the chest clip and the crotch loop to avoid interfering with the buckle system.

The Graco Trio Grow is part of the Protect Plus Engineered family, which means it's been subjected to some of the most rigorous crash testing in the market. This includes side, rear and rollover crashes, as as frontal impact tests.